{a  jsVw  tract  foe  so'tDrEfts,]  5?o-  13. 

AN   APPEAL  TO  THE  YOUNG, 


BY  REV.  JAS.  M'GREADY 


My  Dear  Youxg  Friend  : — You  are  born  for  eternity 
—you  are  to  be  an  inhabitant  of  this  world  only  for  a  few 
days  or  a  tew  years.  You  have  just  to  stay  till  you  are 
prepared  and  qualified  for  an  unseen  w.irld,  where  your 
state  will  be  unalterably  fixed  in  a  solemn,  an  awful, 
unbounded,  immeasurable  eternity.  Oh,  how  solemn! 
How  awful  the  consideration  !  An  eternity  of  unspeak- 
able, indescribable  glory  and  blessedness— -or  an  eternity 
<>:  unutterable,  inconceivable  woe  and  misery  awaits  all 
die  numberless  millions  of  Adam's  numerous  race.  Then 
whatinq  dry  can  be  more  rational  and  proper  for  a  crea- 
ture that  must  be  an  inhabitant  of  heaven  or  hell,  than 
this:  How  will  it  fare  with  me  after  death?  Am  I  walk- 
ing the  narrow  way  to  eternal  life?  Or  am  I  in  the  broad 
road  to  hell?  Am  i  seeking,  striving,  watching,  praying, 
and  trying  to  make  sure  of  Christ  and  Heaven?  Oram  I 
living  "thoughtless,  careless,  and  prayeriess,  putting  off 
repentance,  conversion,  and  the  work  of  my  soul  to  mid- 
dle age,  to  old  age,  or  to  some  future  period  ?  My  dear 
young  friend,  how  is  it  with  you  ?  Is  Jesus  precious  to 
your  soul?  Is  Christ  the  hope  of  glory  formed  in  you? 
Have  you  found  Christ,  the  pearl  of  unspeakable  price? 
Can  you  tell  the  great  things  the  Lord  hath  done  for  you  ? 
Is  the  Bible,  the  sweetest  book  ro  you  that  you  ever  saw? 
Do  ftiu  spend  much  time  in  reading  it,  and  reading  it 
with  a  praying  heart?  Do  you  pray  in  secret  every  night 
and  every  morning?  Is  the  work  of  your  ea1  vation — the 
business  of  your  soul — the  businens  of  <. tern ity— your 
chief  concern"?  Does  it  occupy  the  highest  place  in  your 
thoughts?  Oh,  for  the  Lord's  sake,  for  your  own  soul's 
sake,  propose  these  solemn  questions  to  your  heart  and 
etm^cjence.  Oh  my  friend  !  the  present  time  is  the  best 
time,  the  most  precious  time— the  most  suitable  time  that 
■sou  will  ever  see  till  your  dying  hour,  for  the  work  of 
your  salvation,  You  are  young,  your  heart  is  tender,  it 
is  susceptible  of  good  impressions— it  has  not  yet  grown 
hard  and  gospel  trodden  from  having  r  $>a/edl'v  resisted 


*  AN   APPEAL   TO  THE  YGVS&, 

the  Spirit  of  God,  and  slighted  the  offer,  of  mercy  as  m 
the  case  with  the  old  impenitent  sinner.  Sweet  prLiBca 
are  made  ,„  the  book  of  God  to  youth,  that  oM  gray! 
Leaded  sinners  cannot  claim,  such  as  Proverbs  8-17-  •<! 

SO?  T.t]°  ?,me'?n?  the>'  tha*  scek  nearly  shall 
imd  me.  Ihe  ablest  divines  and  most  experienced and 
exemplary  christians,  HUCh  as  Ambrose,  Flavel,  DoddricW 
andotners,  observe  that  the  tune  of  youth  is  in  a  partic- 
ular manner  a  person's  convertible  age.  They  give  it  as 
their  opinion  that  more  precious  souls  are  brought  to 
Christ  between  the  age  of  nine  and  eighteen  than  of  anv 
other  class  of  mankind,  and  that  scarcely  any  are  ever 
converted  in  a  place  that  has  enjoyed  the  lovely  Ba 
ot  grace  alter  the  age  of  twenty- five  or  thirty  years  at 

ut  A  J  TT  hkG  a  duef  in  thc  RiP^  vou  know 

n  t  that  you  shall  ever  nee  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  of 

£  ™  v  h«  JOl|  hQa\™c  8erm^>  Jon  know  not  but  that 
it  pa,  be  your  last.  \\  h,n  you  enjoy  one  offer  of  mercv, 
men  orange  s  cannot  assure  you  that  vou  will  ever  have 
another.     Oh  then  how  dangerous  to  delay  !    Bow  fatal 

mfcut?  OhPlUt  ^  thG  r;k  0f  y°Ur  SOul  ™e  Worone 
minute.  Oh  be  en  reated  then  to  comply  with  the  rnostrea- 
.enable  command  (if  possible)  in  the  whole  book  of  God 
viz:      lo  remember  thy  creator  in  the  days  of  %yQUtb^ 

h  n!  «at  CaiVbe  m01'e  ng  U  End  *>  in  the  very  nature  of 
things,  than  for  a  rational,  intelligent  creature,"  to  remein- 
ber.love  obey ^and  serve  his  God,his  maker,  hiLprese  v  r 
his  kind  benefactor,  the  author  of  all  the  good  that  evlr 
he  enjoyed  or  that  a  reasonable  creature  can  enjoy  To 
remember  love  and  delight  in  infinite  exce-lence-iniinite 
glory— infinite  beauty-infinite  rectitude  and  purity 
^V  hat  exercise  or  employment  can  be  so  honorable  or  £ 
lespectable  as  to  love,  obey,  or  serve  the  almight    soVe- 

Zft.    ft     ^  UniVer8e-:r°  ^  obey  ancfdelightin 

*  I  i T    that  came  ,nto  the  world  to  save  sinners;  to 

nth  £&  T! them  that  were  Iost ;  t0  6e«k  ™*  «ve  vm 

Hiflfc  poor  lost  sinners  as  you  and  I  areYrom  sinking  lor 
ever  and  ever  m  the  lake  that  burnetii  with  fir? and 
brimstone.  But  further,  [  can  tell  you  as  a  tru4  t 
an  unquestionable  certainty-I  can  tell  you  from  e  'pt 


AN  APrXAL  TO  THE  YOCNG,  S 

rtence,  there  ie  no  happiness,  pleasure,  or  comfort,  on 
this  side  of  heaven  that  is  worth  calling  pleasure  or 
happiness,  but  that  which  is  to  be  found  in  religion. 
One  half  hour  viewing  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus — beholding  by  faith  the  intrinsic  beauty  and 
glory  of  all  the  moral  attributes  of  God,  meeting,  center- 
ing, uniting,  and  harmonizing  in  Christ's  merits  and 
atonement,  feeling  the  love  of  God  in  Chri-t  Jesus  shed 
abroad  in  the  heart,  the  Spirit  of  God  bearing  witness 
with  the  soul  that  it  is  born  of  God,  thusfeeling^the  jovs 
of  pardoned  sin, — the  blessed  hope  of  eternal  life— the 
dawmngs  of  heaven  on  earth,— the  sweet  foretastes  of 
immortal  glory  in  the  soul— this,  I  say,  affords  more 
pleasure  and  real  satisfaction  than  ever  an  Alexander,  a 
ta?sar;  or  a  Napoleon  felt  in  all  their  vitories,  conquests, 
pomp,  or  grandeur.  These  thin ;:s  sweeten  all  the  sor- 
rows and  afflictions  of  life  ;  these  would  communicate  a 
heaven  to  the  genuine  christian,  though  he  was  chained 
m  a  dungeon,  or  burning  at  a  stake.,  they  make  death 
desirable,  and  eternity  delightful.  Oh,  mv  voung  friend! 
will  you  take  a  start  for  glory  and  blessedness?  will  vou 
come  with  me  to  Emmanuel's  land?  to  the  paradise  of 
God?  I  am  bound  for  that  happy  country,  it  is  my  home, 
and  the  place  where  all  my  prospects  lie.  Oh  come  and 
enlist  under  the  sweet  banners  of  King  Jesus  ;  come  and 
give  your  heart  to  Christ:  put  the  crown  of  vour  salva- 
tion upon  him  that  has  many  crowns  upon  his  head. 

'*  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he  mav  be  found,  call  ye 
upon  him  while  he  is  near:"  "  tet  the  wicked  forsake 
his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts:  and  let 
him  return  unto  the  Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercv  upon 
him  ;  and  to  our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly  pardon."— 
Ismah  lv:  6,  7. 

44  My  son,  know  thou  the  God  of  thv  father,  and  serve 
him  with  a  perfect  heart  and  a  willing  mind :  If  thou 
seek  him,  be  will  be  found  of  thee  ;  but  if  thou  f^r«ake 
him,  he  will  cast  thec  off  for  ever."— 1  Chron.  xxviii  •  9 


YOUNG  PERSONS  ESTREATED, 


Bestow,  near  Lord,  upon  our  youth, 

The  gift  of  saving  grace  ; 
And  let  the  seed  of  sacred  truth 

Fall  m  a  fruitful  place. 

Grace  is  a  plant,  where'er  it  grows, 

Of  pure  and  heav'nly  root; 
But  fairest  in  the  youngest  shows, 

And  yields  the  sweetest  fruit. 

Ye  careless  ones,  0  hear  betimes 

The  voice  of  sovereign  love  ! 
Your  youth  is  stain'd  with  many  crimes 

But'mercy  teigus  above. 

True  you  are  young,  but  thare*s  a  alone 

Within  the  younge  t  breast, 
Or  half  the  cri  .  es  which  you  have  done  • 

Would  rob  you  of  your  rest. 

For  you  the  public  prayer  is  made, 

Oh,  join  the  public  prayer  I ^ 
For  vou  the  secret  tear  is  shed, 

O  shed  yourselves  a  tear  ! 

We  pray  that  you  may  early  prove 

The  Spirit's 'power  to  teach  ; 
You  cannot  be  too  young  to  love 

That  Jesus  whom  we  preach. 

Cowper, 


